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Bug Squad

Bug Squad blog image depicts a honey bee sting in action.

Welcome to the Bug Squad blog! The Bug Squad blog was launched Aug. 6, 2008 and is a daily blog (Monday through Friday). It showcases entomologists and the work they do.  The blog focuses on scientists in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, the Bohart Museum of Entomology, Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, the UC Davis Bee Haven, and assorted campuswide events, including UC Davis Picnic Day, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and Bohart Museum open houses. The blog spotlights insects, including bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and praying mantises, as well as arachnids such as jumping spiders and crab spiders. Author and photographer is Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and a longtime journalist and community scientist with two degrees from Washington State University.  She is a member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE). Her blog posts and images have won international awards from ACE and ESA and appeared on journal and magazine covers. She shoots primarily with a Nikon Z-8 mirrorless camera, a Nikon D500 and Nikon 800, with assorted macro lenses. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet. 

These males are longhorned digger bees, Melissodes agilis, sleeping on a lavender stem. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Boys' Night Out

June 16, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
By day, they fly around our yard looking for the girls. At night, it's "Boys' Night Out." These males, longhorned digger bees, Melissodes agilis (as identified by native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis), are absolutely spectacular.
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Red flame skimmer or firecracker skimmer (Libellula saturata). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Don't You Just Love Those Dragonflies?

June 12, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Don't you just love those dragonflies? We watch them circle our fish pond, grab flying insects in mid-air, and then touch down on a bamboo stake in our yard to eat them. Some dragonflies stay for hours; others for what seems like half a second. Some let you walk up to them and touch them.
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The plume moth is tiny. It's shown here on the finger of native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Plume Moth Fit to a 'T'

June 11, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
In some respects, the pterophorid plume moth is fit to a 'T.' "The T-square shape is classic," says butterfly expert Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis.
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A honey bee lands on a ginkgo tree. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Bee and the Ginkgo Tree

June 10, 2014
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
I've always liked the ginkgo tree, despite the fact that honey bees don't like it. It's a non-flowering plant so there's no reward for the bees. In other words, a bee has no reason to visit it. No reason at all.
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